The Unmasked Brilliance of JT Leroy

 

by Alice Brome

The always mysterious identity of the purportedly transgender fiction writer JT Leroy has been thrown into question of late. Most recently in a New York Times article detailing the apparent fictional identity of the writer himself…no, herself…er? The major question for readers of JT Leroy is: Are her stories the compelling motivation for reading his books or is it her story itself that really makes JT Leroy a literary notable.

Leroy’s story is a morally and sexually ambiguous heart wrencher; a teen truck stop prostitute in West Virginia who made his way to the streets of San Francisco, living there as a drug addled street urchin. In many ways her three critically acclaimed writings, filled with raw scenes of child prostitution, violence and drug abuse, parallel her own life. In other ways the arc of her life story is even more compelling. He was saved from the streets by a do-gooder couple in Laura Albert and Geoffrey Knoop, underwent psychological counseling and came out the other side a successful and celebrity befriended artist.

Now, with mounting reports of false identity one wonders if JT Leroy’s fiction may suffer an identity crisis of it’s own without the street creds of the author being a transgender, teen-prostitute. In a shock to readers and supporters alike, many reports are emerging that Savannah Knoop, the half-sister of Geoffrey Knoop, has played the public face of JT Leroy for years. While the public face of JT Leroy has perhaps been unmasked the writer is still unknown. Is it Savannah herself, Geoffrey, Laura, a combination, or someone else altogether?

For this reader the honey is in the tea, I like JT Leroy’s writing. The stories are compelling, the writing evocative, and the content timely if gritty and disturbing. I find that Leroy, whoever s/he is, writes with a style and gusto that has staying power while at the same time being exceptionally contemporary.

In the end each reader will have to decide if JT Leroy’s work stands on it’s own. Is it a disgusting spectacle of terrible writing, or does JT Leroy tap into something deeper - a stain on our cultural heart? This is also a make or break time for the real author – will she/he/they be propelled into fame or flamed into infamy without selling another book?

Will The Real JT Leroy Please Stand Up?

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